, the brother of actress mia farrow arrested after accusations of abuse in a maryland neighborhood.>>>israelmovingcloser to ground war with hamas. >>> bp will pay the largest criminal penalty in american history after the gulf oil spill. >>> i'm tom sherwood. it was one of the longest redevelopment fights in the city's history. but now that fight's over and construction is beginning soon. i'll have the story coming up. >>> israel and hamas are on the brink of war. attacks on both sides are escalating and claiming more civilian lives. but the israeli army is ready for a full ground invasion of the gaza strip. >> reporter: it's thursday night in gaza. very few people are out on the streets. it is an ominous sign of what could possibly happen in the coming days. what many people here fear could be a ground invasion or escalation of the ongoing israeli military operation on the territory. they've seen this in the past in 2008. israel carried out a ground invasion. there's growing concern that that may happen this time around as well. palestinian factions say that will not deter them, despite i

andinisraelperhapsthat were hoping the president would broker a troop. that did not happen. shortly after he left there was an intensification of rocket fire, followed by rket fire from the israeli air force. and that certainly has exacerbated the situation here on the ground. meanwhile, palestinians are bracing themselves for yet another night of what is expected to be severe israeli bombardme bombardment. one thing we've been seeing time and time again is gaza is densely populated. even when israel tries to carry out precision strikes as it claims, it ends up affecting the civilian population who bears a bankrupt of the air strikes. so people are very much concerned that in the coming days, the situation could worsen. they say that the fact that israel has amass eed thousands soldiers on this territory is an ominous sign a ground invasion is imminent. supplies are dwindling for the population as gaza is still a territory very much under siege. it's difficult to get basic supplies in and out. nbc news, gaza. >>> "nbc nightly news" with brian williams will have more on the escalating violenc

of him and the d.c. flag. >>> coming up on news4 at6:00,israelfiresinto syria, but this may just be a warning shot. the man behind the voice of elmo is accused of having a relationship with an underage kid. now he comes clean about what really happened. >>> a massive explosion came without warning obliterating homes and killing two people. >>> and the redskins quarterback with a tribute to america's heroes. >>> israel says it has exchanged gunfire with syria for the first time since the syrian uprising began two years ago. the israeli military says mortar shells from a syrian armored vehicle fell in the golden heights area today. the military said they returned fire and scored a direct hit on the vehicle. israel says it believes the shells were spillover from a border fight between syrian government forces and rebel fighters. government officials say they will continue to respond if syrian gunfire comes too close to its borders. >>> it's been three months now since an american free lance journalist went missing in syria. austin's parents are in lebanon hoping to learn more about

. >>> angry civilians in gaza are demanding retaliationonisrael. atop hamas leader was killed by an air strike today. israel also attacked two hamas training facilities. violence has escalated in the gaza strip over the last few days. militants fired more than a hundred rockets near israel since saturday. >>> tear gas was used to break up protests across the eu. it was quieter and wealthier nations like germany, hundreds of thousands of people went on strike to say what they call a social emergency. they want their governments to focus on job creation rather than spending cuts. >>> president obama called on both republicans and democrats today to help the middle class avoid large tax increases. the congress has only 47 days before the so-called fiscal cliff. as nbc's danielle lee reports now, business leaders and taxpayers are growing more anxious about the new year. >> reporter: while lawmakers inside the capitol fight over taxes, on the outside the message from voters is clear. >> get together and reach a compromise. we do it every day in the regular world. >> come together, not fight

reaction come in from worldleaders.israelofferedcongratulations. >> i want to congratulate president obama on his reelection. i think the united states of america again demonstrated why it's the greatest democracy on earth. the security relationship between the united states and israel is rock solid. >> reporter: we're even hearing from the taliban and pakistan, saying, you know what, obama and romney are pretty much the same enemy, that they will continue to fight. and for president obama, who just won his next term, he gets his first order of overseas business, at least courtesy of british prime minister david m camer cameron. he was interviewed on the border of jordan and syria. during this interview he said we must do more now. >> one of the first things i want to talk to barack about is how we must do more to try to solve this crisis. >> reporter: he wants these two nations together to put more pressure on the assad regime and do more to aid the rebels. back to you. >>> michelle kosinski reporting from london. doug is here now with more about our weather. and the weather in ne